Apple now restricts iOS beta users from writing App Store reviews
If you’re an App Store customer who leaves negative reviews even when you’re consciously running a beta version of iOS, prepare to lament the loss of your misused ability.
Stop right there!
At long last, Apple has implemented a change that restricts users of devices running prerelease versions of iOS from writing reviews of apps on the App Store.
As tweeted by Finish co-creator Ryan Orbuch, the improvement includes a message saying, “You can’t write reviews while using a prerelease version of iOS,” when users who are running iOS betas attempt to leave reviews on the App Store.
Finally — you can't write App Store reviews from beta iOS. pic.twitter.com/xu03SSi96k
— Ryan Orbuch (@orbuch) July 22, 2015
The power of negative thinking
More often than not, these reviews are negative in nature, pointing out that the apps under review don’t work well one way or another.
Of course, apps should not be expected to function properly when they’re used on betas of iOS for the simple reason that such prerelease software versions are liable to cause bugs and crashes in apps that haven’t been designed for them in the first place.
Apparently, though, many users who are running beta versions of iOS 9, presumably through Apple’s public beta program, are oblivious of that liability and expect all apps to work on iOS 9 beta as well as on an officially released version such as iOS 8. And so when they encounter instances of malfunction in apps, they’re quick to point them out in negative reviews of those apps on the App Store — much to the chagrin of app developers.
App developers, rejoice!
But with the aforementioned, recently implemented change, app developers have cause to take heart. No longer will they lose precious sales away from potential buyers who may be dissuaded from purchasing otherwise excellent and well-designed apps by negative reviews unfairly posted from iOS betas.
No longer will they also have to come up with fixes and patches in haste just to appease iOS beta users — as has apparently been the case with Dropbox, which has just issued an update to its iOS app that “fixes most common crashes for users running the iOS 9 beta.”
Reviews that were submitted by iOS beta users prior to the change, however, remain on the App Store. Nevertheless, the change constitutes a good move on Apple’s part that not only helps developers but also better reflects the actual quality of their apps for customers.
